Antediluvian ancient Scythian settlements. Scythians - briefly Scythians years of existence
Millions - you.
Us - darkness, and darkness, and darkness.
Try to fight us!
Yes, we are Scythians! Yes, we are Asians, -
With slanting and greedy eyes!
Who are the Scythians? This question has puzzled the minds of historians for centuries. Scythians is a Greek word, with the help of which the Hellenes denoted nomadic peoples living in the Black Sea region between the courses of the Don and Danube rivers. The Scythians played an extremely important role in the historical destinies of many peoples of our country and made a huge contribution to the treasury of world culture. What do the Scythians have to do with the formation of the culture of our region? Is there any connection at all or is it still a myth?
Being interested in information about treasure hunting and archeology, I realized that the history of our region began much earlier than the formation of the Cossacks on the Don. Since childhood, we have seen mounds, heard legends. But now, when I know that the peoples of the Scythians and Sarmatians lived in the North Caucasus, I look at the world around us differently. It is not known for certain who these people were, how they lived and what they did.
Belgorod region is the northeastern outskirts of Scythia. The Scythians are a nomadic people related to the Slavs by blood and culture. Cohabitation with Slavic tribes. VI - III centuries. BC
Photo 1.
The Slavs-Skolots (west of the Belgorod region) were a settled people, engaged mainly in agriculture, mastered the smelting of iron, built cities (fortified settlements). They traded with the Greeks grain, cattle, furs in exchange for jewelry, wine, expensive dishes. According to Herodotus, the neighbors of the Scythians, living in the forest-steppe, call themselves skolots - "children of the Sun". Border settlement of the Slavic tribes of the Skolots, from which the names of the rivers Oskol and Vorskla (Vorskol) have been preserved.
"Voronezh Scythians" (north-east of the Belgorod region) - a separate part of the Scythians.
Sarmatians (southeast of the Belgorod region). Here was the cutting edge of the pastures of the Sarmatians, the tribes that came from the South Ural steppes in the 4th - 2nd centuries. BC e.
Photo 2. 
The Saltovo-Mayak culture is an archaeological culture of the Iron Age in southern Russia. It dates back to the middle of the 8th - the beginning of the 10th centuries, the period of domination of the Khavzar Khaganate in this region. The name is given by two large monuments - the settlement near the village of Verkhniy Saltov on the left bank of the Seversky Donets and the Mayatsky settlement near the confluence of the Tikhaya Sosna River into the Don.
Settlement near the village Koltunovka was discovered by G.E. Afanasiev in 1977 and studied by him in 1985. The fortress is located on the right bank of the river. Silent Pine, surrounded on all four sides by a rampart about 10m wide. Afanasyev's excavations in 1985 showed that at the base of the fortifications there was a wall made of mud brick, without a foundation, about 3 m wide. The outer part of the wall was lined with chalk blocks, which increased the total width of the wall to 4.4m. Judging by the surviving remains and the layer of collapse, the original height of the wall was no more than 1.6 m, i.e. the fortress was not completed.
Settlement at the confluence of the river. Quiet Sosny in the Don has been known since the 17th century as Mayatskoye. Where the name came from is not known for certain, there is an opinion that in the old days there was a lighthouse on the hill, or divas - the chalk pillars of Diva - acted as these lighthouses.
The fortress is located on the right high bank of the river. Quiet Pine at its confluence with the river. Don. From the north-eastern side, the ancient settlement is surrounded by a narrow ravine, from the south-western and south-eastern side - by an artificial ditch 6-8 m wide and 2.5-5.7 m deep. The walls of the settlement are made of chalk blocks using the double-shell masonry method with internal backfilling of crushed stone and large stones. The width of the walls was about 4m, the height - no more than 5m
Runic inscriptions were found on the walls of the fortress. Some of them have been read. One of them reads: "Elchi and Ataach and Buka are three of them", the other - "Uma and Angush are our names." Most are not.
Reconstruction of the Mayatskaya Fortress There was a settlement around the Mayatskaya Fortress, here in semi-dugouts and yurts lived sentry warriors, cattle breeders, artisans and farmers who served the fortress. 44 residential and household buildings, 3 sanctuaries, catacomb burials, altars, funeral feasts and household pits were discovered. Part of the village was reconstructed on the same cape. In the Grand Canyon, on the southeastern outskirts of the settlement, a huge accumulation of fragments of ceramics was discovered. There was a potters' farm here. There were opened 4 pottery workshops with the remains of pottery kilns. These were semi-dugout buildings with an area of 14 to 17 square meters. m with a pitched roof. The building was divided into two parts: the northern one with potter's wheels and hearths for heating the building, the southern one, in which dishes were dried. Pottery kilns were built next to the workshops.
The necropolis was found during the expedition by chance. Local guys brought bronze items and beads found in a growing ravine in the south-east of the settlement to the scientists. The study of the site revealed a burial ground with an area of about 3 hectares with a large number of burials. The burial structure of the Alans was a rectangular pit (dromos) leading to a cave (catacomb). The male skeletons lie stretched out on their backs in the center of the catacomb. Women's - crouching on their side, indicating a subordinate
position for men. Several catacombs were previously plundered, only in some archaeologists found knives, belt buckles, arrowheads, bronze mirrors, beads, amulets, and other jewelry, including beautiful gold earrings with pearls. All burials belong to the Saltov-Mayak culture.
Thus, research in 2008 on the territory of the archaeological complex found a soil burial ground.
Of the studied Scythian settlements, the Belgorod - Streltsy settlement stands out as a kind of fortification. With their outlines, these fortifications resemble a medieval fortress and have an impressive appearance. Residential buildings were above ground, rectangular in shape, they were based on a wicker frame, which was covered with clay.
The bulk of the finds in the settlements of the Scythians is handmade pottery. Local craftsmen made jugs similar to Greek amphoras. Less common than ceramics are tools made of iron, bronze, bone and stone - knives, axes, awls, sickles, etc. Archaeologists also found weapons (swords, iron and bone arrowheads) and women's jewelry. A special group of finds are articles of cult purpose. Among them are unique stone figurines of people found at the Belgorod settlement Krugloye.
Of great interest are the burials of the Scythians. The burial mound was, as a rule, built for one buried person. An obligatory element in the funeral ritual was a funeral feast with bonfires in the graves and in the mound, an indispensable position of farewell food in the form of parts of the carcasses of domestic and wild animals, along with iron knives. Horse burials were replaced by the placement of bridle sets in the graves, symbolizing a riding horse.
Among the artistic items found in the burials of the Scythians, the most interesting are items decorated in the animal style: quiver and scabbard covers, sword hilts, details of the bridle set, plaques (used to decorate horse harness, quivers, shells, and also as women's jewelry), mirror handles, buckles, bracelets, hryvnias, etc.
Along with images of animal figures (deer, elk, goat, birds of prey, fantastic animals, etc.), there are scenes of animals fighting (most often an eagle or other predator tormenting a herbivore). Images were made in low relief using forging, embossing, casting, embossing and carving, most often from gold, silver, iron and bronze. Ascending to the images of totem ancestors, in the Scythian time they represented various spirits and played the role of magical amulets; in addition, they may have symbolized the strength, dexterity and courage of a warrior.
The burial structures were very diverse. The size of the grave and the height of the mound depended on the nobility of the buried. And although the barrows in the Belgorod region are much smaller than the steppe ones, even after almost two and a half thousand years, taking into account the regular plowing of the fields on which the barrows are located, they even now reach 3-5 m.
And I believe that in places of large accumulations of mounds, there should be temporary settlements of the Scythians. No matter how nomads they are, you can’t get wives and children anywhere.
There are reliable facts that many women of the Scythian tribes were warriors. It is believed that the notorious Amazons were an offshoot of the Scythian people. Maybe they got fed up with the men and separated. Evidence of the life and way of life of the Scythian peoples is not easy to find, it is necessary to find a settlement or a Scythian camp.
The first coins of the Scythians were bronze arrows. They could buy household items.
The clothes of the Scythian men consisted of short leather caftans (tightly tied with a belt) and long tight-fitting leather pants or wide wool trousers. Caftans were worn with fur inside. Patterns were located along their edges, and there was an ornamental strip on the back. The caftans of noble Scythians were decorated with bright embroideries and various appliqués, and ceremonial clothes were embroidered with many gold ornaments. Pants were worn either for release, or were set into low, soft, low boots (“Scythians”) tied with a strap near the ankle. Often, leather pants were decorated with stripes and various embroideries. A leather belt served to hang a quiver (on the left side) and a sword or dagger (on the right side). The belts of noble Scythians and warriors were covered with metal plaques. Scythian women wore clothes made of wool, hemp and leather. The outfit of the Scythian women largely depended on their social status. The clothes of ordinary women most often consisted of a long dress, over which a cape was worn. The outfits of noble Scythian women were usually embroidered with many gold plates and plaques.
Scythian mythology is diverse, much was adopted from the Greeks. And from this follows the conclusion that the Scythians were pagans.
According to many historical sources, it is indicated that the Scythians are pro-Russians, our distant ancestors, who were both plowmen and sedentary hunters and fishermen. It was these peace-loving peoples who lived on the territory of the Belgorod region. Most of the Scythian burial mounds were found in the Krasnensky and Alekseevsky districts.
Oskol is, according to one of the versions (one of the two most likely the second after the grinning chalk shores), this is the Oskol river in the Old Turkic dialect (oskol and kol-river) and the wasps, this is the Alans, this is one of the Scythian-Sarmatian tribes, Iranian-speaking and from the fact that northerners (ancestors of Chernigov Kuryans of Belgorod and Kharkovites) apparently a tribe that became Slavic but also has an Iranian Scytho-Sarmatian origin, for the very name of the northerners Sevura (hence the Kursk ethnonym Sevryuk) is also a Scythian word ....
Traces of the Scythians have been preserved on the territory of our region. The center of the Scythians was the settlement of Gorodishche (not far from the Kirovo farm, Alekseevsky district). Of the 23 registered burial mounds, the main part (19) was located in a triangle formed by the villages of Repenka, Verbnoe, and the Kirovo farm. From 1964 to 1989, a group of Moscow archaeologists carried out excavations near the village of Verbnoe from 1964 to 1989 under the guidance of Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor Pyotr Dmitrievich Liberov. The need for excavations was due to the fact that many historians doubt the population that lived in our area in the 1st century BC. Some archaeologists believe that the Middle Don was inhabited by the Scythians. Others adhere to the idea that Budins lived here - Gelons - the founders of the early Slavic peoples, who led a more sedentary lifestyle.
Thus, we can confidently say that in the era of the early Iron Age, people lived in our region who established close trade ties with the Greek colonies of the Black Sea region, and archaeological finds testify to this.
We see many similar things in the life of the Slavs, in the appearance of dwellings, in household items.
The traditional artistic culture of the Oskol region has absorbed the cultural, economic, social and ethnic phenomena of the large territory of the Kursk, Belgorod and Voronezh regions.
Housing is one of the most essential and extremely complex elements of culture. According to archival data, log dwellings predominated on the territory of modern Belgorod region. And earlier, in the Slavic settlements, dwellings in the form of a rectangular semi-dugout prevailed. Semi dugouts with a hearth inside are known.
Our region is famous for its abundance of handicrafts. This was facilitated by favorable natural and climatic conditions.
The main occupation of the inhabitants of the county is agriculture. They sowed winter rye, oats, millet, barley, buckwheat, and a small amount of wheat.
Thus, the following handicraft specialties are recorded in the region: turners, blacksmiths, potters, potters, coopers, carpenters, saddlers, thick goods, chebotari, etc.
Many crafts associated with the processing and processing of wood, in their technology from ancient times, have reached the beginning of the 20th century. practically no changes.
Combs, axes, gimlets, scissors, knives, pokers, etc. were made in large quantities.
An amazing phenomenon of pottery in the Cossack was a clay toy. They made it for the joy of children, for themselves and for the fair. And even in ancient times, according to the assumptions of archaeologists, the toy was an accessory of pagan cult rites. Clay rattles, whistles were used in the burial rite. They made noise over the deceased, whistled, driving away evil spirits and calling for good ones.
Folk clothes are a bright, original and peculiar phenomenon of traditional artistic culture.
The traditional costume of the region was quite diverse, first of all it refers to the women's costume. Almost all the main complexes of women's clothing identified by ethnographers on the territory of Russia existed in Oskolye: pony and sarafan complexes, with a homespun skirt and a "couple" (jacket - skirt). They decorated clothes in different ways, with different colors, embroidery, lace weaving, patterned weaving.
A women's suit is a shirt that served as both underwear and weekend wear. Homemade linen and hemp canvas served as the main material for the shirt.
Linen fabric has wonderful properties: it is hygienic, durable, pleasant to wear and therefore ideal for summer clothes. Well, in hot weather, linen clothing is simply irreplaceable, as it easily absorbs moisture (up to 80% of its own weight) and at the same time does not become wet to the touch and passes air well. From the old Russian flax was called "northern chalk". Egyptian priests wore clothes only from linen. In ancient Greece, purple-trimmed linen garments were highly valued. The art of flax cultivation originated almost 9 thousand years ago in the mountainous regions of India. Flax was known in Assyria and Babylon, from where it penetrated into Egypt. Well, how did a blade of grass with blue flowers get to us? This culture came from the Scythians, who knew how to cultivate flax. In Russia, flax has long been the subject of national craft and trade.
Men's clothing consisted of an archaic tunic-shaped shirt with long sleeves. Sewn from thin canvas. The shirts of young men were decorated with embroidery. Shirts were worn with ports (trousers) made of homemade linen dyed black or dark blue.
In Stary Oskol there was a swing outerwear: a vest, a caftan, a vest, a zipun, a zipun, a sheepskin coat, a fur coat, a short fur coat, an armyak, a dressing gown and others.
Bast shoes woven from bast and rope bast shoes-chuns were an ancient type of footwear of our ancestors, and from the 19th century - leather boots. Shoes, in some places shoes and "a sign of prosperity - galoshes." In winter, felted wire rods (felt boots) were worn. Women - peasant women, in addition to bast shoes and chun, had boots, shoes, boots, cats.
The funeral rite was a complex of ritual actions. They believed in the existence of the soul after death. Women were buried in headscarves, Young boys and girls were dressed "like a wedding". The grave is still being dug by 6 people, who are called kopochs only in the morning on the day of the funeral. After burial, a wooden cross was placed at the feet.
Thus, having studied the sources, we can say that the Scythians who lived on our territory are not a myth, they are an objective reality. And this means that they could not but have a significant impact on our Slavic domestic and military culture.
Links
1. Volnaya G.N., Narozhny E.I. Settlements of the Scythian time // Materials and research on the archeology of the North Caucasus. - Armavir, Vol. 3, 2004
2. Danilov A.A., Kosulina L.G. History of Russia: 6th grade. - M., 2007
Krupnov E.I. Ancient history of the North Caucasus. - M., 1960
Test control
- Several tribal communities living in the same area:
- human herd
- Tribe
- neighborhood community
- Agriculture has changed
- hunting
- Cattle breeding
- gathering
- The tribal community in primitive society was ruled by:
- Priests
- Elders
- The first domestic animal tamed by man:
- Cow
- Horse
- Dog
- Agriculture originated around:
- 10 thousand years ago
- 3 thousand years ago
- 200 thousand years ago
- The first tool of labor of primitive man:
- Hoe
- sharpened stone
- Tool of labor with which primitive people fished:
- Harpoon
- Chopped
- The manufacturing business is:
- The simplest form of economic activity is gathering and hunting
- An economy based on the production of a product by people themselves
- A farm where products are produced for sale
Questions in the text
1. How did the Great Migration of Nations affect the change in the political map of the world and the organization of people's lives?
The Great Migration of Nations led to a significant change in the map of the world. The invasion of the Goths from modern Sweden destroyed the ancient cities of the Black Sea region. The invasion of the Huns from the steppes of East Asia led to the displacement of many tribes. States formed and fell apart. As a result of the Great Migration of Nations, many nationalities and tribes were destroyed. But on the other hand, thanks to this process, the tribes borrowed a lot of knowledge and technology from each other.
2. What is a policy?
Policy- This is a city-state in the ancient world, consisting of the city itself and the territory adjacent to it. It is an autonomous civil community, belonging to which gave a citizen a certain set of rights (the right to own land, property, the right to participate in political life, the right to serve in the army).
3. Where and when did Islam originate? What are the main tenets of this religion?
Islam originated in the southwest of the Arabian Peninsula at the beginning of the 7th century in the Hijaz among the tribes of Western Arabia. The founder is Mohammed (570-632), who proclaimed himself a prophet. The community he created became the basis of the subsequently formed state formation - the Arab Caliphate.
The main provisions of Islam as a religion:
- Belief in the One God Allah
- Faith in angels close to God
- Faith in scriptures
- Faith in the prophets
- Faith in Judgment Day
- Belief in predestination
Unlike Christian beliefs, Islam does not teach that God is Love, incarnated for the salvation of people, but represents Allah only as a judge, repaying and punishing deeds, predetermining human destiny. Jesus Christ in Islam is accepted as one of the prophets for his people and his time, but his divinity is denied. Islam is an indissoluble unity of faith, state-legal institutions and certain forms of culture. Islam does not tend to divide the sphere of life into secular and religious parts. This inseparability led to the emergence of Sharia - a law that is based on the interpretation of the provisions of the Koran and the Sunnah and contains religious institutions, legal norms, moral and everyday prescriptions.
4. What are the main tenets of Judaism?
The main feature of Judaism is the doctrine of the special role of the Jewish people. “Jews are more pleasing to God than angels” “just as a person in the world stands high above animals, so Jews stand high above all peoples in the world” - the Talmud teaches. Chosenness is conceived in Judaism as the right to domination. The rejection of Christ and the expectation of another instead of Him became the spiritual cause of the state-national catastrophe of the Jews - at the beginning of the 2nd century, Jerusalem was destroyed, and the Jews were scattered around the world.
Key points:
- Our world exists only thanks to the constantly acting creative energy of God.
- Creation is not a single act, but an ongoing process.
- God is present everywhere at the same time.
- God can do anything, but he leaves people free to choose between good and evil.
- Jews believe that prayers should be addressed only to God, and he always hears these prayers.
- In Judaism, the recognition of the existence of God is necessary for the higher meaning of life.
5. Why do you think the Khazar Khaganate and Volga Bulgaria were stronger states than the Turkic Khaganate?
- Less territory
- Sedentary lifestyle
- Control over territorial transport and trade flows
- Favorable territorial and climatic conditions
- One religion
Questions to the text of the paragraph
1. What were the reasons for the appearance of Greek city-states on the territory of our country?
In the 7th - 6th centuries BC. The Greek navigators began to actively explore the Northern Black Sea region. They began to look for places for settlements to establish trade with local tribes. The development of Greek settlements in the Northern Black Sea region is due to the favorable location and control over transport and trade flows.
2. What was the relationship between the inhabitants of the Greek city-states and the local population?
The relationship of the inhabitants of the Greek city-states with the local population was based on mutually beneficial trade.
3. Name the reasons for the emergence of the Bosporan kingdom.
Due to its favorable geographical position, Panticapaeum occupied a dominant position among the colony cities based on the shores of the Bosporus and the Sea of Azov. At the beginning of the 5th century BC. Panticapaeum became the capital of the state, which united all the cities of the Bosporus. All trade routes coming from the Mediterranean, the deep regions of Scythia and the Caucasus, crossed off the coast of Panticapaeum. The city concentrated in its hands the grain trade and was an exporter of wheat to Hellas.
4. What role did nomadic tribes play in the history of the Northern Black Sea region?
Nomadic tribes played an important role in the development of the Northern Black Sea region. Thanks to favorable climatic conditions and large areas suitable for agriculture, nomadic tribes began to lead a sedentary lifestyle, formed cities, traded, exchanged technologies and knowledge with the cities of the ancient world. Also, nomadic tribes became the cause of the death of the ancient world in the Northern Black Sea region. The invasion of the Goths and the Huns destroyed the ancient cities and led to the great migration of peoples. Old states were destroyed and new ones formed.
5. What states existed in the 7th-9th centuries. in the Volga region?
- Western Turkic Khaganate (the Turks reached the Volga)
- Khazar Khaganate (Lower Volga region, capital Itil - now Astrakhan)
- Volga Bulgaria
In the 7th century, part of the territory of the present Volga region was formally part of the Western Turkic Khaganate. After its collapse, the early medieval state of the Khazar Khaganate arose in the Volga region, which existed from the 7th to the 10th century. Approximately at the turn of the 8th-9th centuries, the Volga Bulgaria arose in the Middle Volga region.
6. How did natural conditions affect the types of economic activities of the Finno-Ugric peoples?
Finno-Ugric tribes inhabited the forest strip from the Baltic Sea to the Ural Mountains. The dense forests isolated the forest tribes for a long time, delaying their development and exit from their primitive state. They were mainly engaged in hunting and gathering. Subsequently, the forest dwellers learned how to extract iron from swamp ores. With the advent of the ax, they began to cut down the forest and clear the soil for farming. But the climate did not allow for a large harvest, so the forest tribes combined agriculture with cattle breeding, hunting, gathering and fishing.
Working with the map
1. Find on the map the territory of the settlement of the Scythians, the location of the Greek city-states, the Bosporan kingdom.
Consider the map located in the atlas on page 2.
The territory of the settlement of the Scythians (signatures underlined in red)
These are all lands located between the Dniester River, the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea, including the Crimean peninsula. Scythians-ploughmen, Hellenic-Scythians, Scythian farmers, Scythian nomads and royal Scythians settled on this territory.
Location of Greek city-states
Greek city-states were founded in the 7th, 6th and 5th centuries BC along almost the entire length of the northern coast of the Black Sea. The map shows the following city-states (marked with blue circles): Istria, Tyra (Belgorod-Dnestrovsky), Olbia, Kerkinitida (Evpatoria), Chersonesos (Sevastopol), Feodosia, Nymphaeum, Panticapaeum (Kerch), Phanagoria, Germonassa (Taman), Gorgippia (Anapa), Bata (Novorossiysk), Torik (Gelendzhik), Tanais (Nedvigovka).
Location of the Bosporus Kingdom
The Bosporus kingdom, which existed in the 4th century BC, is shaded green on the map. The capital of the Bosporus kingdom was the city of Panticapaeum (Kerch).
2. Show the largest rivers that flowed through the territory of the Volga Bulgaria.
Consider the map located in the atlas on page 6.
Volga Bulgaria is shaded in lilac on the map.
The largest rivers flowing through its territory are the Volga (1), Kama (2) and Vyatka (3).
Thinking, comparing, reflecting
1. How did the invasions of nomads affect the development of settled peoples? Is it possible to find positive consequences of such invasions?
Usually the invasion of nomads was a disaster for settled peoples. However, the threat of invasion forced the settled peoples to improve defensive technologies and accelerated their overall development. In addition, peoples subjugated by nomads often joined the new formation, introducing and acquiring new traditions, beliefs, and technologies.
2. Using the Internet and additional literature, make a list of the peoples who lived in the Crimea from ancient times to the 9th century in your notebook. Find out what peoples live in the modern territory of Crimea.
- Cimmerians - IX-VII centuries. BC e.
- Tauris - indigenous tribes of the Crimea and the coast
- Scythians - 7th century BC
- Ancient Greeks - VI century BC
- Sarmatians - IV-III century BC
- Alans - II-IV century AD
- Romans - 1st century BC - 4th century AD
- Goths - III-XIII centuries AD
- Huns - IV-V centuries AD
- Byzantines - after the 4th century AD
- Jews - V-IX centuries AD
- Crimean Greeks - V-IX centuries AD
- Khazars - VII-IX centuries AD
- Eastern Slavs - IX-X centuries AD
Today, the main population of the Crimea are Russians, Ukrainians, Crimean Tatars.
3. What provisions of the teachings of Islam could attract people who accepted this religion?
It is difficult to give an unambiguous answer about the reasons that prompted people to convert to Islam. Maybe this is a belief in a single God, which could replace pagan beliefs with many gods and unite the state. Maybe this is a desire to believe in predestination, that everything happens according to the will of Allah and, therefore, little depends on the person himself. It may be that in Islam the state and faith are often inseparable, in which case faith is used to rule the state.
We study the document
1. Can we say that the rites described in the document are pagan? Support your opinion with quotes from the document
Yes, the described rites are pagan. They have clear signs of paganism:
- “the priest calls on the god to whom he makes a sacrifice” - indicates at least the existence of several gods,
- “After the victim is strangled” - no blood is shed during the sacrifice
- “They tell fortunes with the help of many willow twigs” - fortune-telling is a sign of paganism
- “They pour wine mixed with the blood of the parties to the agreement” - giving sacred meaning is a sign of paganism.
Proof:
Usually, the blood of the pagans was considered the most sacred material part of a person and other warm-blooded living beings. It is of divine origin. According to pagan ideas, blood can be shed only in three cases: in response to the shedding of blood; for the sake of saving lives; for the sake of giving a special\sacred meaning to some event (in this case, you can only shed your own blood). These are the only cases where the shedding of blood is not a crime. All other cases border on or are a crime. No worthy god will accept as a sacrifice the blood of a living being shed for the sake of his satisfaction.
2. How many rituals are described in the text?
Three rituals: sacrifice, divination, conclusion of a contract
3. Based on the information provided by Herodotus, make up a story about the religious beliefs of the Scythians.
The religious system of the Scythians is a complex formation that arose on the basis of tribal beliefs. Like all Indo-Europeans, the Scythians have a clearly expressed threefold nature of the universe, which is also reflected in the religious system. The Scythians believed that the universe consists of three parts - three worlds: upper, middle and lower. The middle world is the place where people live. The upper one is the world of sky and sun. The lower one is the world of terrestrial and water depths. The highest element, penetrating and symbolizing the entire universe, for the Scythians was fire.
The Scythians represented the terrestrial space as an equilateral quadrilateral, the sides of which correspond to the four cardinal points, and the world axis passes through the center.
In the system of the ancient gods of the Scythians, there is a high natural morality and worship of the surrounding nature - the sun, water, earth and fertility. Herodotus mentions eight deities worshiped by the Scythians. These are Papai, Api, Targitai, Tabiti, Goytosir, or Oytosir, Argimpasa, or Artimpasa, Tagimasad, and a deity whose name Herodotus does not mention, but compares him with the Greek Ares. The Scythians erected neither altars nor temples to any of the gods, except for the god of war. Only animals were sacrificed to other gods - horses and cattle.
The Scythian priests, who had great influence in society, monitored the performance of religious rites and were engaged in prediction. The most unusual group of the Scythian priesthood were the Enarei - noble and powerful servants of the goddess Artimpasa. Enarei are effeminate male priests who wore women's clothes and adopted women's habits. Enarei divined with the help of linden bark, cut into three strips. Other Scythian soothsayers used willow twigs.
The Scythians imagined the afterlife as a kind of repetition of the real one. The social orders on the other side of death seemed to the Scythians unchanged, earthly. Apostasy was punishable by death.
Homework
1. Write a mini essay about the history of one of the first states on the territory of our country
Khazar Khaganate.
After the collapse of the Turkic Khaganate, Khazaria separated from the Western Turkic Khaganate. By the end of the 7th century, the Khazars controlled most of the steppe Crimea, the Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov and the North Caucasus. At this time, the Khazars did not stand out much among other Turkic peoples.
An important factor for the history of the Khazar Khaganate was the fact that Jewish communities lived in the territory it controlled. The fugitive Jews settled there and took up their favorite occupation - trade. The geographical position of Khazaria contributed to this, since Khazaria was a transit hub for several trade routes at once. Significant changes occurred after the upper class of Khazaria converted to Judaism. From that moment on, the policy of Khazaria was reoriented from aggressive campaigns to the development of international transit trade. Power in Khazaria was concentrated in the hands of the Jews. It was not the Khazars who benefited from the change of power, but the visiting Jews and the Jewish community as a whole.
An important item of state revenue was the tribute levied from the conquered peoples and the slave trade. Often slaves were brought from raids on Slavic tribes. The Khazars themselves paid a tax in kind: they were obliged to supply food to the Jewish king and his court.
At the end of the VIII - beginning of the IX century. intensified struggle within the kaganate. No one was going to convert the population of Khazaria to Judaism. The Jewish sages kept Jehovah's covenant for the chosen people, who now got all the accumulated benefits associated with leadership positions. Naturally, this could not affect the non-Jewish ethnic groups of Khazaria, who raised uprisings. The coup, the victim of which was the tribal aristocracy of all ethnic groups that were part of the Khazar Khaganate and got along with the Turkic dynasty, caused a civil war, where the Magyars came out on the side of the rebels, and detachments of mercenaries on the side of the Jews. The uprising was brutally suppressed, though Khazaria itself lost part of its territories.
In 965, the Rus, in alliance with the Pechenegs, attacked the Khazars and ravaged the cities of Itil and Sarkel. After that, the Khaganate broke up into smaller formations, most of them were conquered by neighboring states.
Possible questions in the lesson
Greek city-states of the Northern Black Sea region
1. How and when did the cities of Panticapaeum and Chersonesos arise?
Panticapaeum emerged as a trading settlement of colonists from Miletus (an ancient Greek city on the western coast of modern Turkey) on the northern and northeastern slopes of the Kerch Hill in the 7th century BC.
The ancient city of Chersonese was founded in 422-421 BC. natives of Heraclea Pontica (an ancient Greek city on the northern coast of modern Turkey) near modern Sevastopol.
2. Why did Panticapaeum occupy a dominant position among the colonial cities?
Due to its favorable geographical position, Panticapaeum occupied a dominant position among the colony cities based on the shores of the Bosporus and the Sea of Azov. All trade routes coming from the Mediterranean, the deep regions of Scythia and the Caucasus, crossed off the coast of Panticapaeum. The city concentrated in its hands the grain trade and was an exporter of wheat to Hellas.
3. What are the reasons for the decline of Panticapaeum?
In 107 BC an uprising of the Scythian population broke out. And in subsequent years, due to wars with Rome, Panticapaeum was destroyed.
4. What form of government was in Chersonese?
The founders of the policy of Chersonesus arranged their lives according to the canons of Athenian democracy. They chose those worthy to rule and expelled the unworthy from the community. Decisions were made by voting.
5. What did the inhabitants of Chersonesos do?
Citizens of Chersonese grew grapes and were engaged in industrial winemaking. Wheat was also grown on the northern possessions of the city. All these products were the subject of trade.
Scythian kingdom
1. What territory did the Scythian kingdom occupy in different years of its existence?
From the 4th century BC The Scythian kingdom occupied the territory from the Danube to the steppe part of the Crimea. The capital of the Scythian kingdom is Scythian Naples (near the current Simferopol). Between 280-260 BC. e. The power of the Scythians was significantly reduced during the invasion of the Sarmatians, who came from behind the Don. Part of the Scythians died, part crossed the Danube and settled only in coastal areas. In the 130-120s BC. e. the Scythians subjugated Olbia and a number of possessions of Chersonesos. However, soon after the defeat in the war with Pontus, the late Scythian kingdom in the Crimea ceased to exist as a single state. The Scythian kingdom in the Crimea and the lower reaches of the Dnieper, with its center in Naples, existed until the second half of the 3rd century AD. e. and was destroyed by the Goths.
2. What were the main occupations of the Scythians?
Scythian tribes were divided into pastoral and agricultural. Scythian agriculture is focused on the production of solid fodder, necessary for feeding livestock in the winter.
3. What crime was considered the most dangerous by the Scythians?
The most dangerous crimes were considered crimes against the king.
The decline of the Black Sea states
1. Who was part of the Sarmatian tribes?
The Sarmatian tribes included the Roxolans, who lived in the south of the Eastern European steppe, as well as the Alans, the ancestors of modern Ossetians.
2. When did the Sarmatians invade the Scythian state?
The Sarmatians invaded the Scythian state at the turn of the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC.
3. What is the fate of the Scythian kingdom?
In the II century BC. The Scythian kingdom was conquered by the state of Pontus. The Scythian kingdom ceased to exist as a single state. The Scythian kingdom in the Crimea was finally destroyed in the 3rd century AD. goths. The Scythians lost their independence and ethnic identity, dissolving among the tribes of the Great Migration of Nations.
4. How did the invasion of the Goths affect the fate of the states of the Northern Black Sea region?
In 257, detachments of the Goths reached the eastern Crimea and, partially plundering the Bosporus kingdom (Pantikapey and Nymphaeum). They also destroyed the Scythian kingdom centered in the Crimea.
5. How did the invasion of the Huns affect the fate of the states of the Northern Black Sea region?
Tribes of the Huns in the second half of the 4th century AD defeated the Gothic alliance of tribes. All Greek cities on the Black Sea coast were destroyed, only Chersonesus remained. The ancient era in the Northern Black Sea region is over.
The great migration of peoples in the fate of the peoples of our country
1. What are the causes of mass migrations of the population?
- Cooling, search for more favorable places to live;
- The formation of large tribal unions, the desire of their leaders to seize new lands;
- Inefficient farming practices, soil depletion, search for more fertile land.
2. What territory covered the Great Migration?
Germanic and Turkic tribes, Slavic and Finno-Ugric peoples took part in the great migration of peoples
3. What three waves of migrations were observed in the III-V centuries?
The first wave is the resettlement of Germanic tribes. The Goths, who inhabited the territory of modern Sweden, crossed the border of the Roman Empire in 239. Their example was followed by the Franks, Vandals, Saxons.
The second wave is the resettlement of the Turkic and Mongol tribes of the Huns, who from the steppes of Central Asia in 378 invaded the lands of Europe.
The third stage began in the 5th century, when the Slavic tribes moved into Eastern Europe.
4. What are the consequences of the Great Migration?
As a result of the Great Migration of Nations, many nationalities and tribes were destroyed. But on the other hand, thanks to this process, the tribes borrowed a lot of knowledge and technology from each other. For example, the history of the Huns was interrupted. After the death of the leader of the Huns, Attila, the power of the Huns disintegrated. The invasion of the Huns prompted other peoples to migrate. The Great Migration of Nations began. Its most significant consequences were the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the formation of barbarian kingdoms.
Derbent
1. When did Derbent appear?
The first written mention of Derbent dates back to the 6th century BC. And the first settlements arose in this area in the early Bronze Age - at the end of the 4th millennium BC.
2. What is its early history?
One of the most important sections of the Great Silk Road ran through Derbent. The city stood at the "crossroads" of civilizations, linking East, West, North and South. At the beginning of the 4th century AD. Derbent became one of the first Christian centers in the modern territory of our country. Later, the inhabitants of Derbent converted to Islam. The oldest mosque in Russia has been preserved in the city to this day.
3. What is its role in the fight against nomads?
Rome's successors in the struggle for the Caucasus in the early Middle Ages were Byzantium and Iran. In the V-VI centuries. Iranian "kings of kings" launched a grandiose fortification construction in the Eastern Caucasus, designed to protect Western Asia from a new wave of nomads - the Turkic tribes of the Huns and Khazars.
Turkic Khaganate
1. When did the history of the Turkic Khaganate begin?
The short history of the nomadic empire, the Turkic Khaganate, began in the 6th century AD.
2. What is the history of the kaganate?
The borders of the kaganate stretched from the banks of the Huang He in the east to the North Caucasus and the Kerch Strait in the west. The Khaganate controlled the lands of modern China (Manchuria), Mongolia, Altai, East Turkestan, West Turkestan (Central Asia), Kazakhstan and the North Caucasus.
The rulers of the kaganate established equal political and trade relations with the rulers of the world of that time - Byzantium, Iran and the northern Chinese kingdoms. But the territory of the Turkic Khaganate was too large, and the population was too heterogeneous, so this state was expected by the fate of all empires of antiquity, created by the force of arms and not soldered by a common economic life - due to internecine wars and united external enemies, the state collapsed.
3. What are the achievements of the Turkic peoples?
Runic writing was created, new types of horse harness, clothes, and weapons appeared. The invention of a rigid frame saddle and iron stirrups expanded the combat capabilities of horsemen - the striking power of heavy cavalry increased, and new battle tactics were developed.
4. Who are Avars?
Avars are a Turkic people who were part of the Khaganate. The Avars were excellent riders, excellently wielding a bow and a spear, as well as a short sword-dagger. The ancient Russian chronicle notes that the Obry (Avars) were “proud in mind”, i.e. arrogant, considered themselves the most glorious of the peoples. Outwardly, they did not look like proto-Mongols. On the contrary, according to the testimony of the first Russian chroniclers, they were tall and slender, "large in body."
Khazar Khaganate
1. How did the Khazars change their way of life?
Initially, the Khazar Khaganate was a union of nomadic and agricultural Turkic tribes. Many Khazars gradually changed their nomadic life to a settled one. Adoption of Judaism in the 8th century AD changed the nature of power in the Khazar Khaganate. Kagan (king) was elected from representatives of the same noble Jewish family. The election was led by another Jew - the king-bek. The latter actually held real power. The tsar-bek disposed of the troops, resolved issues of war and peace, state finances, he could not only appoint a kagan, but also remove him. Also, with the coming to power of the Jews, Khazaria began active trade, abandoning conquest campaigns.
2. What religion was dominant in the Khazar Khaganate?
Until the VIII century - paganism. After the 8th century, the dominant religion is Judaism.
3. What occupations were typical for the inhabitants of the kaganate?
For a long time, nomadic cattle breeding was the basis of the economy of the khanate. With the transition of part of the population of Khazaria to a settled way of life, agriculture developed, which is confirmed by open traces of canals. An important item of state revenue was the tribute levied from the conquered peoples and the slave trade.
4. How and when did the Khazar Khaganate collapse?
The decisive role in the death of Khazaria was played by the Old Russian state. In 964, Prince Svyatoslav liberated the last Slavic tribe of the Vyatichi, dependent on the Khazars, and in the next year 965 defeated the Khazar army and captured Sarkel, which from that time became the Russian city of Belaya Vezha. Then the Rus, in alliance with the Pechenegs, defeated the capital of Khazaria, Itil. This moment is considered the end of the independent Khazar state.
Great Bulgaria
1. How can the wealth and power of Bulgaria be explained?
In the steppes of Eastern Europe, after the collapse of the Turkic Khaganate, the state of Great Bulgaria arose. Its well-being was ensured due to its favorable geographical position at the intersection of water and land trade routes, as well as due to the abundance of fertile black earth soils.
2. What occupations were typical for the inhabitants of Bulgaria?
Bulgaria became a center for the production and export of wheat, furs, livestock, fish, honey, nuts and various handicrafts. However, the main turnover of the Bulgar merchants was trade transit between East and West. The capital of the state - the city of Bulgar was known for its slave market, which was brought from the Russian lands and the northern Volga region.
3. What religion was dominant in Bulgaria?
Initially, the Bulgars are Turkic-speaking tribes. In 922, Islam became the official religion.
4. Why did the Bulgars build fortifications?
To protect against nomadic Polovtsians from the steppe. The city of Kazan became the largest fortress.
Inhabitants of the forest strip of Eastern Europe
1. Suggest why the collapse of primitive society proceeded more slowly in the forest belt than in the steppe.
The settlements were scattered, removed from each other. Tribes do not name any internal device. Because of their isolation, they remained in primeval savagery for a long time.
2. Where did the Finno-Ugric tribes live?
The Finno-Ugric tribes were divided into many small peoples (Chud, All, Em, Estonians, Merya, Mordovians, Cheremis, Votyaks, Zyryans and many others). With their small settlements, they occupied the forest spaces of the entire Russian North.
3. How did the natural and climatic conditions affect the occupations, life and beliefs of the inhabitants of the forest belt of Eastern Europe?
The dense forests isolated the forest tribes for a long time, delaying their development and exit from their primitive state. Since the forest tribes were highly dependent on the nature around them, religion also consisted in the deification of the forces of nature, as well as in the veneration of dead ancestors. The forest tribes did not have a strong priestly class and religious ceremonies. Families made sacrifices to numerous gods identified with the forces of nature, revered animals and trees. Many forest tribes had totems - animals, patrons of the tribe.
Need to know
Tribute- natural or monetary requisition from conquered tribes and peoples.
Plow- an agricultural tool with a wide metal plowshare and a blade for plowing the land.
Formation of the first states (pages 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
Test control
- Several tribal communities living in the same area:
- human herd
- Tribe
- neighborhood community
- Agriculture has changed
- hunting
- Cattle breeding
- gathering
- The tribal community in primitive society was ruled by:
- Priests
- Elders
- The first domestic animal tamed by man:
- Cow
- Horse
- Dog
- Agriculture originated around:
- 10 thousand years ago
- 3 thousand years ago
- 200 thousand years ago
- The first tool of labor of primitive man:
- Hoe
- sharpened stone
- Tool of labor with which primitive people fished:
- Harpoon
- Chopped
- The manufacturing business is:
- The simplest form of economic activity is gathering and hunting
- An economy based on the production of a product by people themselves
- A farm where products are produced for sale
Questions in the text
1. How did the Great Migration of Nations affect the change in the political map of the world and the organization of people's lives?
The Great Migration of Nations led to a significant change in the map of the world. The invasion of the Goths from modern Sweden destroyed the ancient cities of the Black Sea region. The invasion of the Huns from the steppes of East Asia led to the displacement of many tribes. States formed and fell apart. As a result of the Great Migration of Nations, many nationalities and tribes were destroyed. But on the other hand, thanks to this process, the tribes borrowed a lot of knowledge and technology from each other.
2. What is a policy?
Policy- This is a city-state in the ancient world, consisting of the city itself and the territory adjacent to it. It is an autonomous civil community, belonging to which gave a citizen a certain set of rights (the right to own land, property, the right to participate in political life, the right to serve in the army).
3. Where and when did Islam originate? What are the main tenets of this religion?
Islam originated in the southwest of the Arabian Peninsula at the beginning of the 7th century in the Hijaz among the tribes of Western Arabia. The founder is Muhammad (570-632), who proclaimed himself a prophet. The community he created became the basis of the subsequently formed state formation - the Arab Caliphate.
The main provisions of Islam as a religion:
- Belief in the One God Allah
- Faith in angels close to God
- Faith in scriptures
- Faith in the prophets
- Faith in Judgment Day
- Belief in predestination
Unlike Christian beliefs, Islam does not teach that God is Love, incarnated for the salvation of people, but represents Allah only as a judge, repaying and punishing deeds, predetermining human destiny. Jesus Christ in Islam is accepted as one of the prophets for his people and his time, but his divinity is denied. Islam is an indissoluble unity of faith, state-legal institutions and certain forms of culture. Islam does not tend to divide the sphere of life into secular and religious parts. This inseparability led to the emergence of Sharia - a law that is based on the interpretation of the provisions of the Koran and the Sunnah and contains religious regulations, legal norms, moral and everyday prescriptions.
4. What are the main tenets of Judaism?
The main feature of Judaism is the doctrine of the special role of the Jewish people. “Jews are more pleasing to God than angels” “just as a person in the world stands high above animals, so Jews stand high above all peoples in the world,” the Talmud teaches. Chosenness is conceived in Judaism as the right to domination. The rejection of Christ and the expectation of another instead of Him became the spiritual cause of the state-national catastrophe of the Jews - at the beginning of the 2nd century, Jerusalem was destroyed, and the Jews were scattered around the world.
Key points:
- Our world exists only thanks to the constantly acting creative energy of God.
- Creation is not a single act, but an ongoing process.
- God is present everywhere at the same time.
- God can do anything, but he leaves people free to choose between good and evil.
- Jews believe that prayers should be addressed only to God, and he always hears these prayers.
- In Judaism, the recognition of the existence of God is necessary for the higher meaning of life.
5. Why do you think the Khazar Khaganate and Volga Bulgaria were stronger states than the Turkic Khaganate?
- Less territory
- Sedentary lifestyle
- Control over territorial transport and trade flows
- Favorable territorial and climatic conditions
- One religion
Questions to the text of the paragraph
1. What were the reasons for the appearance of Greek city-states on the territory of our country?
In the 7th - 6th centuries BC. The Greek navigators began to actively explore the Northern Black Sea region. They began to look for places for settlements to establish trade with local tribes. The development of Greek settlements in the Northern Black Sea region is due to the favorable location and control over transport and trade flows.
2. What was the relationship between the inhabitants of the Greek city-states and the local population?
The relationship of the inhabitants of the Greek city-states with the local population was based on mutually beneficial trade.
3. Name the reasons for the emergence of the Bosporan kingdom.
Due to its favorable geographical position, Panticapaeum occupied a dominant position among the colony cities based on the shores of the Bosporus and the Sea of Azov. At the beginning of the 5th century BC. Panticapaeum became the capital of the state, which united all the cities of the Bosporus. All trade routes coming from the Mediterranean, the deep regions of Scythia and the Caucasus, crossed off the coast of Panticapaeum. The city concentrated in its hands the grain trade and was an exporter of wheat to Hellas.
4. What role did nomadic tribes play in the history of the Northern Black Sea region?
Nomadic tribes played an important role in the development of the Northern Black Sea region. Thanks to favorable climatic conditions and large areas suitable for agriculture, nomadic tribes began to lead a sedentary lifestyle, formed cities, traded, exchanged technologies and knowledge with the cities of the ancient world. Also, nomadic tribes became the cause of the death of the ancient world in the Northern Black Sea region. The invasion of the Goths and the Huns destroyed the ancient cities and led to the great migration of peoples. Old states were destroyed and new ones formed.
5. What states existed in the 7th-9th centuries. in the Volga region?
- Western Turkic Khaganate (the Turks reached the Volga)
- Khazar Khaganate (Lower Volga region, capital Itil - now Astrakhan)
- Volga Bulgaria
In the 7th century, part of the territory of the present Volga region was formally part of the Western Turkic Khaganate. After its collapse, the early medieval state of the Khazar Khaganate arose in the Volga region, which existed from the 7th to the 10th century. Approximately at the turn of the 8th-9th centuries, the Volga Bulgaria arose in the Middle Volga region.
6. How did natural conditions affect the types of economic activities of the Finno-Ugric peoples?
Finno-Ugric tribes inhabited the forest strip from the Baltic Sea to the Ural Mountains. The dense forests isolated the forest tribes for a long time, delaying their development and exit from their primitive state. They were mainly engaged in hunting and gathering. Subsequently, the forest dwellers learned how to extract iron from swamp ores. With the advent of the ax, they began to cut down the forest and clear the soil for farming. But the climate did not allow for a large harvest, so the forest tribes combined agriculture with cattle breeding, hunting, gathering and fishing.
Working with the map
1. Find on the map the territory of the settlement of the Scythians, the location of the Greek city-states, the Bosporan kingdom.
Consider the map located in the atlas on page 2.
The territory of the settlement of the Scythians (signatures underlined in red)
These are all lands located between the Dniester River, the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea, including the Crimean peninsula. Scythians-ploughmen, Hellenic-Scythians, Scythian farmers, Scythian nomads and royal Scythians settled on this territory.
Location of Greek city-states
Greek city-states were founded in the 7th, 6th and 5th centuries BC along almost the entire length of the northern coast of the Black Sea. The map shows the following city-states (marked with blue circles): Istria, Tyra (Belgorod-Dnestrovsky), Olbia, Kerkinitida (Evpatoria), Chersonesos (Sevastopol), Feodosia, Nymphaeum, Panticapaeum (Kerch), Phanagoria, Germonassa (Taman), Gorgippia (Anapa), Bata (Novorossiysk), Torik (Gelendzhik), Tanais (Nedvigovka).
Location of the Bosporus Kingdom
The Bosporus kingdom, which existed in the 4th century BC, is shaded green on the map. The capital of the Bosporus kingdom was the city of Panticapaeum (Kerch).
2. Show the largest rivers that flowed through the territory of the Volga Bulgaria.
Consider the map located in the atlas on page 6.
Volga Bulgaria is shaded in lilac on the map.
The largest rivers flowing through its territory are the Volga (1), Kama (2) and Vyatka (3).
We study the document
1. Can we say that the rites described in the document are pagan? Support your opinion with quotes from the document
Yes, the described rites are pagan. They have clear signs of paganism:
- “the priest calls on the god to whom he makes a sacrifice” - indicates at least the existence of several gods,
- "After the victim is strangled" - no blood is shed during the sacrifice
- “They tell fortunes with the help of many willow twigs” - fortune-telling is a sign of paganism
- “They pour wine mixed with the blood of the parties to the agreement” - giving sacred meaning is a sign of paganism.
Proof:
Usually, the blood of the pagans was considered the most sacred material part of a person and other warm-blooded living beings. It is of divine origin. According to pagan ideas, blood can be shed only in three cases: in response to the shedding of blood; for the sake of saving lives; for the sake of giving a special\sacred meaning to some event (in this case, you can only shed your own blood). These are the only cases where the shedding of blood is not a crime. All other cases border on or are a crime. No worthy god will accept as a sacrifice the blood of a living being shed for the sake of his satisfaction.
2. How many rituals are described in the text?
Three rituals: sacrifice, divination, conclusion of a contract
3. Based on the information provided by Herodotus, make up a story about the religious beliefs of the Scythians.
The religious system of the Scythians is a complex formation that arose on the basis of tribal beliefs. Like all Indo-Europeans, the Scythians have a clearly expressed threefold nature of the universe, which is also reflected in the religious system. The Scythians believed that the universe consists of three parts - three worlds: upper, middle and lower. The middle world is the place where people live. The upper one is the world of sky and sun. The lower one is the world of terrestrial and water depths. The highest element, penetrating and symbolizing the entire universe, for the Scythians was fire.
The Scythians represented the terrestrial space as an equilateral quadrilateral, the sides of which correspond to the four cardinal points, and the world axis passes through the center.
In the system of the ancient gods of the Scythians, there is a high natural morality and worship of the surrounding nature - the sun, water, earth and fertility. Herodotus mentions eight deities worshiped by the Scythians. These are Papai, Api, Targitai, Tabiti, Goytosir, or Oytosir, Argimpasa, or Artimpasa, Tagimasad, and a deity whose name Herodotus does not mention, but compares him with the Greek Ares. The Scythians erected neither altars nor temples to any of the gods, except for the god of war. Only animals were sacrificed to other gods - horses and cattle.
The Scythian priests, who had great influence in society, monitored the performance of religious rites and were engaged in prediction. The most unusual group of the Scythian priesthood were the Enarei - noble and powerful servants of the goddess Artimpasa. Enarei are effeminate male priests who wore women's clothes and adopted women's habits. Enarei divined with the help of linden bark, cut into three strips. Other Scythian soothsayers used willow twigs.
The Scythians imagined the afterlife as a kind of repetition of the real one. The social orders on the other side of death seemed to the Scythians unchanged, earthly. Apostasy was punishable by death.
Thinking, comparing, reflecting
1. How did the invasions of nomads affect the development of settled peoples? Is it possible to find positive consequences of such invasions?
Usually the invasion of nomads was a disaster for settled peoples. However, the threat of invasion forced the settled peoples to improve defensive technologies and accelerated their overall development. In addition, peoples subjugated by nomads often joined the new formation, introducing and acquiring new traditions, beliefs, and technologies.
2. Using the Internet and additional literature, make a list of the peoples who lived in the Crimea from ancient times to the 9th century in your notebook. Find out what peoples live in the modern territory of Crimea.
- Cimmerians - IX-VII centuries. BC e.
- Tauris - indigenous tribes of the Crimea and the coast
- Scythians - 7th century BC
- Ancient Greeks - VI century BC
- Sarmatians - IV-III century BC
- Alans - II-IV century AD
- Romans - 1st century BC - 4th century AD
- Goths - III-XIII centuries AD
- Huns - IV-V centuries AD
- Byzantines - after the 4th century AD
- Jews - V-IX centuries AD
- Crimean Greeks - V-IX centuries AD
- Khazars - VII-IX centuries AD
- Eastern Slavs - IX-X centuries AD
Today, the main population of the Crimea are Russians, Ukrainians, Crimean Tatars.
3. What provisions of the teachings of Islam could attract people who accepted this religion?
It is difficult to give an unambiguous answer about the reasons that prompted people to convert to Islam. Maybe this is a belief in a single God, which could replace pagan beliefs with many gods and unite the state. Maybe this is a desire to believe in predestination, that everything happens according to the will of Allah and, therefore, little depends on the person himself. It may be that in Islam the state and faith are often inseparable, in which case faith is used to rule the state.
Homework
1. Write a mini essay about the history of one of the first states on the territory of our country
Khazar Khaganate.
After the collapse of the Turkic Khaganate, Khazaria separated from the Western Turkic Khaganate. By the end of the 7th century, the Khazars controlled most of the steppe Crimea, the Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov and the North Caucasus. At this time, the Khazars did not stand out much among other Turkic peoples.
An important factor for the history of the Khazar Khaganate was the fact that Jewish communities lived in the territory it controlled. The fugitive Jews settled there and took up their favorite occupation - trade. The geographical position of Khazaria contributed to this, since Khazaria was a transit hub for several trade routes at once. Significant changes occurred after the upper class of Khazaria converted to Judaism. From that moment on, the policy of Khazaria was reoriented from aggressive campaigns to the development of international transit trade. Power in Khazaria was concentrated in the hands of the Jews. It was not the Khazars who benefited from the change of power, but the visiting Jews and the Jewish community as a whole.
An important item of state revenue was the tribute levied from the conquered peoples and the slave trade. Often slaves were brought from raids on Slavic tribes. The Khazars themselves paid a tax in kind: they were obliged to supply food to the Jewish king and his court.
At the end of the VIII - beginning of the IX century. intensified struggle within the kaganate. No one was going to convert the population of Khazaria to Judaism. The Jewish sages kept Jehovah's covenant for the chosen people, who now got all the accumulated benefits associated with leadership positions. Naturally, this could not affect the non-Jewish ethnic groups of Khazaria, who raised uprisings. The coup, the victim of which was the tribal aristocracy of all ethnic groups that were part of the Khazar Khaganate and got along with the Turkic dynasty, caused a civil war, where the Magyars came out on the side of the rebels, and detachments of mercenaries on the side of the Jews. The uprising was brutally suppressed, though Khazaria itself lost part of its territories.
In 965, the Rus, in alliance with the Pechenegs, attacked the Khazars and ravaged the cities of Itil and Sarkel. After that, the Khaganate broke up into smaller formations, most of them were conquered by neighboring states.
Possible questions in the lesson
Greek city-states of the Northern Black Sea region
1. How and when did the cities of Panticapaeum and Chersonesos arise?
Panticapaeum emerged as a trading settlement of colonists from Miletus (an ancient Greek city on the western coast of modern Turkey) on the northern and northeastern slopes of the Kerch Hill in the 7th century BC.
The ancient city of Chersonese was founded in 422-421 BC. natives of Heraclea Pontica (an ancient Greek city on the northern coast of modern Turkey) near modern Sevastopol.
2. Why did Panticapaeum occupy a dominant position among the colonial cities?
Due to its favorable geographical position, Panticapaeum occupied a dominant position among the colony cities based on the shores of the Bosporus and the Sea of Azov. All trade routes coming from the Mediterranean, the deep regions of Scythia and the Caucasus, crossed off the coast of Panticapaeum. The city concentrated in its hands the grain trade and was an exporter of wheat to Hellas.
3. What are the reasons for the decline of Panticapaeum?
In 107 BC an uprising of the Scythian population broke out. And in subsequent years, due to wars with Rome, Panticapaeum was destroyed.
4. What form of government was in Chersonese?
The founders of the policy of Chersonesus arranged their lives according to the canons of Athenian democracy. They chose those worthy to rule and expelled the unworthy from the community. Decisions were made by voting.
5. What did the inhabitants of Chersonesos do?
Citizens of Chersonese grew grapes and were engaged in industrial winemaking. Wheat was also grown on the northern possessions of the city. All these products were the subject of trade.
Scythian kingdom
1. What territory did the Scythian kingdom occupy in different years of its existence?
From the 4th century BC The Scythian kingdom occupied the territory from the Danube to the steppe part of the Crimea. The capital of the Scythian kingdom is Scythian Naples (near the current Simferopol). Between 280-260 BC. e. The power of the Scythians was significantly reduced during the invasion of the Sarmatians, who came from behind the Don. Part of the Scythians died, part crossed the Danube and settled only in coastal areas. In the 130-120s BC. e. the Scythians subjugated Olbia and a number of possessions of Chersonesos. However, soon after the defeat in the war with Pontus, the late Scythian kingdom in the Crimea ceased to exist as a single state. The Scythian kingdom in the Crimea and the lower reaches of the Dnieper, with its center in Naples, existed until the second half of the 3rd century AD. e. and was destroyed by the Goths.
2. What were the main occupations of the Scythians?
Scythian tribes were divided into pastoral and agricultural. Scythian agriculture is focused on the production of solid fodder, necessary for feeding livestock in the winter.
3. What crime was considered the most dangerous by the Scythians?
The most dangerous crimes were considered crimes against the king.
The decline of the Black Sea states
1. Who was part of the Sarmatian tribes?
The Sarmatian tribes included the Roxolans, who lived in the south of the Eastern European steppe, as well as the Alans, the ancestors of modern Ossetians.
2. When did the Sarmatians invade the Scythian state?
The Sarmatians invaded the Scythian state at the turn of the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC.
3. What is the fate of the Scythian kingdom?
In the II century BC. The Scythian kingdom was conquered by the state of Pontus. The Scythian kingdom ceased to exist as a single state. The Scythian kingdom in the Crimea was finally destroyed in the 3rd century AD. goths. The Scythians lost their independence and ethnic identity, dissolving among the tribes of the Great Migration of Nations.
4. How did the invasion of the Goths affect the fate of the states of the Northern Black Sea region?
In 257, detachments of the Goths reached the eastern Crimea and, partially plundering the Bosporus kingdom (Pantikapey and Nymphaeum). They also destroyed the Scythian kingdom centered in the Crimea.
5. How did the invasion of the Huns affect the fate of the states of the Northern Black Sea region?
Tribes of the Huns in the second half of the 4th century AD defeated the Gothic alliance of tribes. All Greek cities on the Black Sea coast were destroyed, only Chersonesus remained. The ancient era in the Northern Black Sea region is over.
The great migration of peoples in the fate of the peoples of our country
1. What are the causes of mass migrations of the population?
- Cooling, search for more favorable places to live;
- The formation of large tribal unions, the desire of their leaders to seize new lands;
- Inefficient farming practices, soil depletion, search for more fertile land.
2. What territory covered the Great Migration?
Germanic and Turkic tribes, Slavic and Finno-Ugric peoples took part in the great migration of peoples
3. What three waves of migrations were observed in the III-V centuries?
The first wave is the resettlement of Germanic tribes. The Goths, who inhabited the territory of modern Sweden, crossed the border of the Roman Empire in 239. Their example was followed by the Franks, Vandals, Saxons.
The second wave is the resettlement of the Turkic and Mongol tribes of the Huns, who from the steppes of Central Asia in 378 invaded the lands of Europe.
The third stage began in the 5th century, when the Slavic tribes moved into Eastern Europe.
4. What are the consequences of the Great Migration?
As a result of the Great Migration of Nations, many nationalities and tribes were destroyed. But on the other hand, thanks to this process, the tribes borrowed a lot of knowledge and technology from each other. For example, the history of the Huns was interrupted. After the death of the leader of the Huns, Attila, the power of the Huns disintegrated. The invasion of the Huns prompted other peoples to migrate. The Great Migration of Nations began. Its most significant consequences were the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the formation of barbarian kingdoms.
Derbent
1. When did Derbent appear?
The first written mention of Derbent dates back to the 6th century BC. And the first settlements arose in this area in the early Bronze Age - at the end of the 4th millennium BC.
2. What is its early history?
One of the most important sections of the Great Silk Road ran through Derbent. The city stood at the "crossroads" of civilizations, linking East, West, North and South. At the beginning of the 4th century AD. Derbent became one of the first Christian centers in the modern territory of our country. Later, the inhabitants of Derbent converted to Islam. The oldest mosque in Russia has been preserved in the city to this day.
3. What is its role in the fight against nomads?
Rome's successors in the struggle for the Caucasus in the early Middle Ages were Byzantium and Iran. In the V-VI centuries. Iranian "kings of kings" launched a grandiose fortification construction in the Eastern Caucasus, designed to protect Western Asia from a new wave of nomads - the Turkic tribes of the Huns and Khazars.
Turkic Khaganate
1. When did the history of the Turkic Khaganate begin?
The short history of the nomadic empire, the Turkic Khaganate, began in the 6th century AD.
2. What is the history of the kaganate?
The borders of the kaganate stretched from the banks of the Huang He in the east to the North Caucasus and the Kerch Strait in the west. The Khaganate controlled the lands of modern China (Manchuria), Mongolia, Altai, East Turkestan, West Turkestan (Central Asia), Kazakhstan and the North Caucasus.
The rulers of the kaganate established equal political and trade relations with the rulers of the world of that time - Byzantium, Iran and the northern Chinese kingdoms. But the territory of the Turkic Khaganate was too large, and the population was too heterogeneous, so this state was expected by the fate of all ancient empires created by the force of arms and not soldered by a common economic life - due to internecine wars and united external enemies, the state collapsed.
3. What are the achievements of the Turkic peoples?
Runic writing was created, new types of horse harness, clothes, and weapons appeared. The invention of a rigid frame saddle and iron stirrups expanded the combat capabilities of horsemen - the striking power of heavy cavalry increased, and new battle tactics were developed.
4. Who are Avars?
Avars are a Turkic people who were part of the Khaganate. The Avars were excellent riders, excellently wielding a bow and a spear, as well as a short sword-dagger. The ancient Russian chronicle notes that the Obry (Avars) were “proud in mind”, i.e. arrogant, considered themselves the most glorious of the peoples. Outwardly, they did not look like proto-Mongols. On the contrary, according to the testimony of the first Russian chroniclers, they were tall and slender, "large in body."
Khazar Khaganate
1. How did the Khazars change their way of life?
Initially, the Khazar Khaganate was a union of nomadic and agricultural Turkic tribes. Many Khazars gradually changed their nomadic life to a settled one. Adoption of Judaism in the 8th century AD changed the nature of power in the Khazar Khaganate. Kagan (king) was elected from representatives of the same noble Jewish family. The election was led by another Jew - the king-bek. The latter actually held real power. The tsar-bek disposed of the troops, resolved issues of war and peace, state finances, he could not only appoint a kagan, but also remove him. Also, with the coming to power of the Jews, Khazaria began active trade, abandoning conquest campaigns.
2. What religion was dominant in the Khazar Khaganate?
Until the VIII century - paganism. After the 8th century, the dominant religion is Judaism.
3. What occupations were typical for the inhabitants of the kaganate?
For a long time, nomadic cattle breeding was the basis of the economy of the khanate. With the transition of part of the population of Khazaria to a settled way of life, agriculture developed, which is confirmed by open traces of canals. An important item of state revenue was the tribute levied from the conquered peoples and the slave trade.
4. How and when did the Khazar Khaganate collapse?
The decisive role in the death of Khazaria was played by the Old Russian state. In 964, Prince Svyatoslav liberated the last Slavic tribe of the Vyatichi, dependent on the Khazars, and in the next year 965 defeated the Khazar army and captured Sarkel, which from that time became the Russian city of Belaya Vezha. Then the Rus, in alliance with the Pechenegs, defeated the capital of Khazaria, Itil. This moment is considered the end of the independent Khazar state.
Great Bulgaria
1. How can the wealth and power of Bulgaria be explained?
In the steppes of Eastern Europe, after the collapse of the Turkic Khaganate, the state of Great Bulgaria arose. Its well-being was ensured due to its favorable geographical position at the intersection of water and land trade routes, as well as due to the abundance of fertile black earth soils.
2. What occupations were typical for the inhabitants of Bulgaria?
Bulgaria became a center for the production and export of wheat, furs, livestock, fish, honey, nuts and various handicrafts. However, the main turnover of the Bulgar merchants was trade transit between East and West. The capital of the state - the city of Bulgar was known for its slave market, which was brought from the Russian lands and the northern Volga region.
3. What religion was dominant in Bulgaria?
Initially, the Bulgars are Turkic-speaking tribes. In 922, Islam became the official religion.
4. Why did the Bulgars build fortifications?
To protect against nomadic Polovtsians from the steppe. The city of Kazan became the largest fortress.
Inhabitants of the forest strip of Eastern Europe
1. Suggest why the collapse of primitive society proceeded more slowly in the forest belt than in the steppe.
The settlements were scattered, removed from each other. Tribes do not name any internal device. Because of their isolation, they remained in primeval savagery for a long time.
2. Where did the Finno-Ugric tribes live?
The Finno-Ugric tribes were divided into many small peoples (Chud, All, Em, Estonians, Merya, Mordovians, Cheremis, Votyaks, Zyryans and many others). With their small settlements, they occupied the forest spaces of the entire Russian North.
3. How did the natural and climatic conditions affect the occupations, life and beliefs of the inhabitants of the forest belt of Eastern Europe?
The dense forests isolated the forest tribes for a long time, delaying their development and exit from their primitive state. Since the forest tribes were highly dependent on the nature around them, religion also consisted in the deification of the forces of nature, as well as in the veneration of dead ancestors. The forest tribes did not have a strong priestly class and religious ceremonies. Families made sacrifices to numerous gods identified with the forces of nature, revered animals and trees. Many forest tribes had totems - animals, patrons of the tribe.
Need to know
Tribute- natural or monetary requisition from conquered tribes and peoples.
Plow- an agricultural tool with a wide metal plowshare and a blade for plowing the land.
The Scythians dominated the present territory of Russia for almost a millennium. Neither the Persian Empire nor Alexander the Great could break them. But suddenly, overnight, this people mysteriously disappeared into history, leaving behind only majestic burial mounds.
Who are the Scythians
Scythians is a Greek word, with the help of which the Hellenes denoted nomadic peoples living in the Black Sea region between the courses of the Don and Danube rivers. The Scythians themselves called themselves Saki. For most Greeks, Scythia was an outlandish land inhabited by "white flies" - snow, and cold always reigned, which, of course, did not correspond to reality.
It is this perception of the country of the Scythians that can be found in Virgil, Horace and Ovid. Later, in the Byzantine chronicles, Slavs, and Alans, Khazars or Pechenegs could already be called Scythians. And the Roman historian Pliny the Elder wrote back in the 1st century AD that “the name“ Scythians ”is transferred to the Sarmatians and Germans,” and believed that the ancient name was assigned to many of the peoples most distant from the Western world.
This name continued to live on, and in The Tale of Bygone Years it is repeatedly mentioned that the Greeks called the peoples of Russia “Scythians”: “Oleg went to the Greeks, leaving Igor in Kyiv; he took with him many Varangians, and Slavs, and Chuds, and Krivichi, and Meryu, and Drevlyans, and Radimichi, and Polyans, and Severians, and Vyatichi, and Croats, and Dulebs, and Tivertsy, known as interpreters: these were all called Greeks "Great Scythia".
It is believed that the self-name "Scythians" means "archers", and the beginning of the emergence of the culture of the Scythians is considered to be the 7th century BC. The ancient Greek historian Herodotus, in whom we find one of the most detailed descriptions of the life of the Scythians, describes them as a single people, breaking up into various tribes - Scythian farmers, Scythian plowmen, Scythian nomads, royal Scythians and others. However, Herodotus also believed that the Scythian kings were the descendants of the son of Hercules, the Scythian.
The Scythians for Herodotus are a wild and rebellious tribe. One of the stories tells that the Greek king went mad after he began to drink wine “in the Scythian way”, that is, without diluting it, as was not customary among the Greeks: “From now on, as the Spartans say, every time when they want to drink stronger wine, they say: "Pour it in the Scythian way."
Another demonstrates how barbaric the customs of the Scythians were: “Everyone has, as usual, many wives; they use them together; they enter into a relationship with a woman by placing a stick in front of the dwelling. At the same time, Herodotus mentions that the Scythians also chuckle at the Hellenes: "The Scythians despise the Hellenes for their Bacchic frenzy."
Thanks to the regular contacts of the Scythians with the Greeks, who actively colonized the lands surrounding them, ancient literature is rich in references to the nomadic people. In the VI century BC. the Scythians drove out the Cimmerians, defeated Media and, thus, took possession of all of Asia. After that, the Scythians retreated to the northern Black Sea region, where they began to meet with the Greeks, fighting for new territories. At the end of the 6th century, the Persian king Darius went to war against the Scythians, but despite the crushing power of his army and huge numerical superiority, Darius failed to quickly break the nomads.
The Scythians chose a strategy of wearing down the Persians by retreating endlessly and circling around Darius's forces. Thus, the Scythians, having remained undefeated, earned themselves the glory of impeccable warriors and strategists.
In the 4th century, the Scythian king Atey, who lived for 90 years, united all the Scythian tribes from the Don to the Danube. Scythia in this period reached its highest peak: Atey was equal in strength to Philip II of Macedon, minted his own coin and expanded his possessions. The Scythians had a special relationship with gold. The cult of this metal even became the basis for the legend that the Scythians managed to tame griffins guarding gold.
The growing strength of the Scythians forced the Macedonians to undertake several large-scale invasions: Philip II killed Atheus in an epic battle, and his son, Alexander the Great, went to war against the Scythians eight years later. However, the great commander failed to defeat Scythia, and had to retreat, leaving the Scythians unsubdued.
During the 2nd century, the Sarmatians and other nomads gradually ousted the Scythians from their lands, leaving behind them only the steppe Crimea and the basin of the lower Dnieper and Bug, and as a result, Great Scythia became Lesser. After that, Crimea became the center of the Scythian state, well-fortified fortifications appeared in it - the fortresses of Naples, Palakiy and Khab, in which the Scythians took refuge, fighting with Chersonesus and the Sarmatians. At the end of the 2nd century, Chersonese found a powerful ally - the Pontic king Mithridates V, who went to war against the Scythians. After numerous battles, the Scythian state was weakened and bled dry.
Disappearance of the Scythians
In the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, the Scythian society could hardly be called nomadic: they were farmers, rather strongly Hellenized and ethnically mixed. The Sarmatian nomads continued to push the Scythians, and in the 3rd century the Alans began to invade the Crimea. They devastated the last stronghold of the Scythians - Scythian Naples, located on the outskirts of modern Simferopol, but could not stay on the occupied lands for a long time. The invasion of these lands by the Goths soon began, declaring war on the Alans, the Scythians, and the Roman Empire itself.
The blow to Scythia, therefore, was the invasion of the Goths around 245 AD. All the fortresses of the Scythians were destroyed, and the remnants of the Scythians fled to the south-west of the Crimean peninsula, hiding in hard-to-reach mountainous areas.
Despite the seemingly obvious complete defeat, Scythia continued to exist for a short time. The fortresses that remained in the southwest became a refuge for the fleeing Scythians, and several settlements were founded at the mouth of the Dnieper and on the Southern Bug. However, they soon fell under the onslaught of the Goths.
The Scythian war, which, after the events described, was waged by the Romans with the Goths, got its name due to the fact that the name "Scythians" began to be used to refer to the Goths who defeated the real Scythians. Most likely, there was some truth in this false name, since thousands of defeated Scythians joined the Gothic troops, dissolving in the mass of other peoples who fought with Rome. Thus, Scythia became the first state to collapse as a result of the Great Migration of Nations.
The Huns completed the work, in 375 they attacked the territories of the Black Sea region and killed the last Scythians who lived in the Crimean mountains and in the Bug valley. Of course, many Scythians again joined the Huns, but there was no longer any question of any independent identity.
The Scythians as an ethnic group disappeared in the whirlpool of migrations, and remained only on the pages of historical treatises, with enviable persistence continuing to call "Scythians" all new peoples, usually wild, recalcitrant and unbroken. It is interesting that some historians rank Chechens and Ossetians among the descendants of the Scythians.
Thumbnail source: historyfiles.co.uk
In the central part of Russia and especially the Voronezh region, many Scythian monuments are found. How close this people is to us, who disappeared almost two thousand years ago, AiF-Chernozemye learned from local historian Nikolai Sapelkin.
Aborigines of Russia
“The Scythians are the natives of our country,” says the local historian. “Their entire history is connected with the territory of historical Russia from the Yenisei to the Danube, including Kazakhstan and Central Asia.”
In the vast expanses of Eurasia, the Scythians dominated in the middle of the first millennium BC. Today's researchers have learned a lot of facts about this people thanks to ancient Greek authors: the Hellenes actively interacted with the Scythians - they both traded and fought. Actually, the Scythians are a Greek word, they themselves called themselves Saks.
Everyday habits, military customs, religious views of this people were described in detail ancient historian Herodotus. He singled out the royal Scythians, Scythian shepherds, Scythian farmers - chipped, but wrote that they have a common culture and they are all equally warlike. Herodotus also told about the neighbors, who also lived in the Black Earth region. Where the forests began, the boudins lived - fair-haired, blue-eyed and no less warlike. Sometimes they fought with the Scythians, sometimes they acted as allies.
In the Voronezh region, Scythian archaeological sites have been studied for a long time. So, since 1989, the Don archaeological expedition of the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences has been conducting research - it studies Scythian antiquities in the Ostrogozhsky and Repevsky regions, in the basins of the Potudan and Devitsa rivers. Voronezh archaeologists Alexander Medvedev and Yuri Razuvaev are actively involved in this era.
Who will get the "princess"?
“Thanks to systematic archaeological research, we know that the Scythians-farmers most densely inhabited the interfluve of Bystraya Pine and Quiet Pine,” notes Nikolai Sapelkin. - The entire coast of these and neighboring rivers, the coast of the Don was saturated with Scythian cities. A little to the south lived nomads - the royal Scythians, a little to the north - Boudins. By the way, the name of the Don River came to us precisely from the Scythians.
Scythian settlements were large settlements with a line of fortifications: a moat, earthen ramparts and a palisade.
Just like modern Russians, the Scythians were Indo-Europeans, but they spoke a language that belonged not to the Slavic, but to the Iranian group. There are two theories of their origin. One says that they came from Asia - from the Sayan and Altai. The second says that this is the indigenous population of our steppes and forest-steppes, who lived here since the late Bronze Age. In the 7th century BC, the Scythians passed through the Caucasus and invaded Asia: their cavalry smashed Assyria, Media, Babylonia, Egypt and other ancient states. Having enriched their culture, having mastered new technologies and weapons, they returned to their native steppes.
The 25-year-old Scythian princess died of breast cancer. Photo: commons.wikimedia.org
The oldest of the burials of the Scythian kings was found far to the east - in the Sayans. And in the early 1990s, the mummified body of a 25-year-old woman was discovered on the Altai Ukok plateau. The water that filled the grave in ancient times froze - the ice lens did not melt for more than two thousand years and perfectly preserved the Scythian beauty sleeping in eternal sleep, whom our contemporaries call either the princess or the shaman of Ukok.
Unfortunately, strife soon boiled over the remains of the princess. The unique find almost became a victim of superstition. The chief shaman of Altai said that the grave of the Scythian princess locked the lower worlds and did not release evil spirits from there. Now the demons seem to have broken out and breed misfortunes: earthquakes, loss of livestock, budget deficits and economic crisis. The hysteria reached the point that the council of elders under the head of the Altai Republic demanded that the mummy be buried again.
Fortunately, now the mummy is the property of the museum of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and scientists have not given in to obscurantism. After all, the find told a lot about the appearance, clothing, tattoos and many other details of the daily life of the Scythian society. The woman's cause of death is also known to be breast cancer.
Potters and metallurgists
Unfortunately, mummies are not found in the Scythian burials in the Black Earth region. But there were other important discoveries. So, the history of archeology included the finds made during the excavations of the so-called Chasty kurgans - now these places are built up with high-rise buildings of the Northern region of Voronezh. In 1911, archaeologists Alexander Martinovich, Vladimir Yazykov and Stefan Zverev found there a sword with a gold handle decorated with animal figures, arrowheads, a quiver, 200 gold plaques, a gold spiral ring, an iron bracelet covered with gold. But the most important thing is a silver bowl with relief images of men in Scythian clothes with bows and axes, now it is in the Hermitage.
Adult men wore long hair, mustaches and beards, dressed in short leather caftans tied with a belt, long tight leather trousers or wide woolen trousers, pointed felt hats were put on their heads. The women wore long dresses and capes.
The Scythians had neither full-fledged statehood nor written language, but they cannot be considered barbarians - they owned the advanced technologies of their time: they made fabrics and leather goods, used a potter's wheel. They were excellent metallurgists: they extracted iron from ore and turned it into steel, mined gold, silver, and copper.
The Scythian "animal style" is widely known: horses, deer, birds and other animals were depicted on gold and silver vessels - always in motion, sideways, but with their heads turned to the viewer. However, these vessels were the subject of import - by order of the Scythian nobility, they were made by Hellenic jewelers from the Greek colonies located in the Black Sea region.
However, it is wrong to imagine the Scythian society as humane and progressive.
“In one of the burials of the Scythian era, skeletons of people with fused vertebral discs were found,” the local historian notes. - This means that people from early childhood were subjected to torture or hard physical labor. Whether they were representatives of the conquered peoples or the lower stratum of society, we cannot yet say.”
In the ideas of the Greek neighbors, the Scythians were distinguished by a special riot. The expression “to drink in the Scythian way” has survived to our times - it means to drink undiluted wine. The Hellenes themselves usually mixed the intoxicating drink with water.
Deep into the steppes
At the end of the VI century BC. e. a terrible danger hung over the Scythians. Having crossed the Danube, a huge army of Darius, the king of the Persian empire of the Achaemenids, the world power of that time, invaded their steppes. It seemed that the outcome of the struggle was a foregone conclusion, but the Scythians used unprecedented tactics. Realizing that a head-on collision did not bode well, they began to retreat deep into the steppes, burning grass, filling up wells, destroying the detachments of the Persians that had separated from the main forces.
Darius reached Tanais (as the Greeks called the Don), but did not defeat the Scythians. Exhausted by unaccustomed cold, hunger, disease and minor skirmishes, the Persians turned back. The way back was even more difficult - only the miserable remnants of the army returned from the country of the Scythians. Later, Alexander the Great also tried to conquer the Scythians, but also failed.
The domination of the Scythians in the steppes of Eurasia ended at the end of the first millennium BC. Another Iranian people became the ruler of the Don region - the Sarmatians who came from the east. The Scythians retreated to the Dnieper and the Bug and eventually settled in the Crimea. There they were overtaken one by one by invasions of Goths and Huns.
The formidable people before disappeared, and most historians do not recognize the Scythians as the ancestors of the Russians. Nevertheless, Greek authors continued to call the Alans, and then the Slavs, Scythians. Ancient Russia, according to The Tale of Bygone Years, was known in Byzantium as Great Scythia. Yes, and for Western Europeans, our country for a long time remained a kind of "mysterious Scythia". And therefore it is not at all surprising that Russian poets felt a deep - if not direct - cultural and mental kinship with a cheerful and creative people who knew how to appreciate beauty, loved open spaces and destroyed conquerors.
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